Project ZAYR
by BlueTiburon
Summary: Rick is a lone wolf attempting to find who he is and who he was. His origins remain a mystery and cross paths with the Starfox team, whom he befriends. His past is filled with a web of shadows that slowly come uncovered in the most unusual ways. Will Rick uncover the truth to his past or die trying? Find out! This is a cross from Starfox and my own world.
1. It Begins

The locker rooms of the fight arena were cold and dark. None around  
but a single light to the whole room.

"Where will I go after this?" asked Rick as he thought to himself,  
waiting for the call to the ring. Rick was a loner who was lost in his  
own mind.

He didn't know were he came from or who he was, other than his name.  
He was fought in arenas to earn money to continue his travels across  
the galaxy.

He was a formidable fighter, knowing many deadly and forgotten  
fighting styles. He knew some day he would find the truth; it was just  
a matter of time before that happened.

He was a 19 years old silver fox that was alone and wanting friendship.

He wore light gray assault style pants, a dark gray shirt and a jacket  
that was gray with white metal padding around shoulders and in a  
intricated design throught his back.

He had black, military style boots, and a small caliber blaster,  
that he never used. That's all he had of his past.

He had been roamming the galaxy for months now. His blue eyes were  
always full of sadness. Not knowing if he would die before finding the  
truth.

As he continued to wonder, a door opened in the locker room. An orange  
fox, a blue vixen, a falcon, and a small toad passed by and they  
walked by without glancing at him, not even knowing he was there.

"Ignored as always" he thought. As they went throught the door  
towards the ring, Rick stood up and walked towards the end of the  
walls lined with old rusted and broken lockers.

He looked back at his pile of clothes and felt like he was being  
stared at. He turned towards the door and there he saw her. The blue  
vixen that had just passed.

She looked at him and smiled. Rick felt strange and uncomfortable; he  
looked at her face and saw her emerald eyes. Rick froze in his spot,  
he tried to say hi or smile but couldn't, he just stood there  
expressionless.

"Krystal! Come on the match is about to begin!" yelled someone. She  
looked towards the source of the voice. When she looked back at the  
locker where Rick had been standing, he was gone.

"Am I seeing things?" she said to herself in a low, confused voice.  
Rick heard her say that, and felt bad about not saying hi or hello.  
The blue vixen he knew now as Krystal then left.

Rick was leaning up against the cold metal lockers in the darkness. He  
sighed then brushed his silver fur with his hands then readied himself  
for the fight.

Suddenly a bulldog dressed in a fancy suit that had the essence of  
thick cigar smoke, came in and said "Alright kid, your next, go out  
there and try not to bleed all over the place" then left.

Rick took off his undershirt an threw it on his pile of items. He  
ran his hands along his fur and stretched. His silver fur gleaming in  
the lowly light room. "Once again, here we go" he said and headed out  
the door.


	2. The Ring

Rick headed towards the small 6 sided fenced ring. As he walked  
throught the ring entrance, many people cheered and others booed.

"And the next victim, I mean challenger...Rickkkkk!" said the  
introducer. "He will fight RJ, our undefeated champion! For the grand  
prize of 30,000 Lylatians!" continued the introducer.

Rick walked up the small stairs towards the ring. The crowd inside the  
arena suddenly yelled "Kill him! Kill him!" over and over. Rick was  
calm and undeterred.

The ring was surrounded by barb wire to seal in the fighters. Bright  
lights surrounded the ring, many of the spectators waved their arms  
yelling profanities in their language.

Rick walked towards the far corner of the ring. "Just another day" he  
thought. The crowd suddenly became wild as RJ walked towards the ring.  
He was a massive black bear. Bulging muscles all over his furred body.

"Oh great..." Rick thought. Rick looked around at the stands and saw  
many of the aliens start shacking hands. He knew too well what that  
meant. They were betting on the match.

The pungent smell of sweat came over him as RJ entered the ring.  
"Alright everyone! Readyyyyy, take places!" There was a long silence.

"Set, fighttt!" yelled the ref throught the mic outside the ring. The  
bear laughed at Rick's small size. "This will be too easy!" he said  
then laughed deeply.

Rick walked towards him and then extended his hand. "This shall be  
an honorary fight" said Rick emotionless. "Honorary!?" said RJ  
laughing at him.

"Fine let's do it your way" he then said. The bear extended his paw  
and shook Rick's hand. He then tightened his grip and threw Rick  
towards the fence hard like a lifeless rag doll. Rick then instantly  
landed on his feet.

The crowd went wild. "You shouldn't have taken advantage of that"  
said Rick, going into his fighting stance.

"What are you going to do about it? Small fry!" the bear said. The  
bear looked towards the crowd, Rick then threw a roundhouse to the  
bears face.

"You're going to pay for that!" yelled the bear angrily. He then  
lunged at Rick, trying to tackle him. But Rick being small easily  
moved out of the way, making RJ hit the fence with his face.

The bear started to bleed from his nose profusely. He wiped it and ran  
at Rick once more. Rick moved out of the way and kicked the bear in  
the side of the head hard.

That caused the bear more anger. The bear then suddenly grabbed Rick  
and punched him in the stomach twice them threw him at a pole from the  
fence. When Rick hit his back, he popped his shoulder out of place.

Causing him immense pain flow throught him. He yelled in pain as he  
held his arm. The then gritted his teeth and pulled his arm, it was  
followed by a loud pop. The crowd gasped at what he did.

He yelled as his shoulder entered it's rightful place. He then ran  
towards the bear and dodged his massive claws and punched him in the  
stomach and then in the face repeatedly.

The bear walked back in pain. The bear then swung without looking  
and caught Rick in the face. Blood ran down his mouth as he walked  
back in pain.

He wiped it off and continued his hits on the bear. He then did a  
floor swipe and knocked over the bear. Rick then kicked him in the  
head, dazing him temporarily.

Rick then ran to the fence and began to climb it. At the top he jumped  
off and landed in the bears back. The bear yelled in pain as he felt  
the full impact of the hit.

Rick then walked back slowly and began to recover. The bear then  
struggled to get up, as Rick neared the last hit, he looked behind the  
bear and throught the fence and saw her.

Again he froze looking at her eyes. She looked worried as she stared  
at him. An orange fox sat next to her. He looked at her and put his  
arm around her. She ignored him.

She suddenly started yelling something but he couldn't hear over the  
noise of the crowd in the arena. He tried to understand but couldn't.  
She then closed her eyes, Rick just stated at her.

"Look out behind you!" yelled a voice in his head. "What the hel" he  
said, suddenly he turned around and met the bears paw head on.

The hit send him flying at the metal fence. He could now taste metal  
in his mouth. He spat at the floor red. "This match has gone long  
enough" he thought.

He then ran at the bear and jumped high above him. He then did a leg  
drop and then landed on the floor. He ran at the bear and did a  
roundhouse followed by a series of kicks.

The then took a few steps back, and then charged at the bear with a  
strong double palm right into the bears stomach. RJ fell to his knees  
holding his stomach, rolling in pain.

The crowed was dead silent. Someone then broke the silence by  
whistling. Then it was followed by clapping and cheers. Rick just  
smiled and headed towards the door. As he reached for it, a voice  
yelled behind you!

Rick did a back spin kick then turned around and hit the bear with a  
series of strong hits then one final hit. An elbow to the neck,  
shattering his trachea. The bear gagged then fell over and didn't move.

Rick looked around at where Krystal sat and didn't see her. Only the  
orange fox. "She's gone..." he thought sadly. He then exited the  
ring and headed towards the locker rooms in complete darkness.


	3. Found

Rick walked to his locker in the darkness. "Damn kid! You were  
supposed to KO him, not kill him!" said the bulldog who was smoking a  
cigar in the far-off corner of the room.

"Let me guess, you aren't going to pay me cause I killed him, am I  
right?" said Rick, his back towards the old dog.

"No kid! I want you to work for me!" he said suddenly. "What?" said  
Rick surprised.

"Yeah you heard me, I want you to be our new fighter here." he said  
taking in a breath of his cigar, lighting a small red dot in the  
darkness.

"A job." Rick thought. "Come on kid, what you say?" he said. Rick  
thought for done time, his back towards the old bulldog.

"No thanks, I have some unfinished business else where" he said in a  
bland voice. "I don't take no for an answer" he said threateningly.  
Rick turned around; anger started slowly boiling inside him.

"I not the kind of guy you give orders to." he said in a stern voice.  
"What are you going to do about it?" said the dog.

Rick needed the money so he calmed down and said "Give me the money  
and I'll leave peacefully".

"Good luck with that" he said turning around. "Give me my money" he  
said once more. "Fight for me" he said again.

"No" responded Rick. "Suit yourself" he answered back. "Boys! We need  
to teach this punk who the boss is" said the dog waving his hand  
towards the door.

Two huge rust colored dogs came in. So strangely they looked that  
they didn't resemble any breed of dogs.

Thick muscles around their necks, large arms, small sharp yellow  
eyes, tribal tattoos running down their arms. The two the dogs walked  
side by side, until they reached Rick.

"Two on one? This hardly seems fair, you two are at a disadvantage"  
said Rick going into one of his fighting poses.

Left arm out, right arm near his chest, both legs bent slightly.  
"Ready?" he said to the two dogs. "Lets het him!" yelled the brown dog.

Rick did a back kick and hit him in the face, throwing him to the  
lockers face first. The other dog threw heavy punches and missed.

Rick then saw an opening and hit him in the side of the ribs with an  
elbow. The other dog had stood up and joined the fight, Rick didn't  
see him cause he was busy with the gray dog.

The brown dog grabbed Rick from behind and caught him by surprise, he  
then gave Rick a painfully bear hug. Squeezing the air out of his  
lungs almost instantly.

The gray dog then stood up straight and walked towards Rick. "This is  
going to be fun..." said the gray dog popping his knuckles. The gray  
bear walked towards Rick slowly.

Showing a devious smile across his wrinkled face. The dog swung three  
times at Rick's stomach. He didn't have any air in his lungs; he was  
slowly choking to death.

He began to feel lightheaded. His face was beginning to darken. "Must  
breathe" he thought in his mind. Suddenly out of nowhere, a bright  
flash appeared in the darkness of the room, blinding everyone.

The brown dog let go of Rick and started to rub his eyes. Rick took in  
breathfulls of air. "Now is that anyway to pick a fight?" said a voice  
in the darkness.

In the dark corner of the room stood two green emerald eyes that  
sparkled brightly. Out of the shadows came the blue vixen Rick had  
seen minutes prior to his match.

Holding the pin to a flash grenade. "Now where even" she said  
walking towards the fight. Rick jumped over the two dogs and landed  
near Krystal.

Krystal looked at him with a smile while Rick in the other hand simply  
gave a cold stare at her. "Go away, you don't belong here" said Rick  
expressionless.

"But...is that the thanks I get for helping you?!" she said. "Boss  
what do we do?" asked the gray dog to the bulldog.

"Huh? I don't know. Kill them both. Do as you please. This is yalls  
pay, 30,000 Lylatians. Enjoy." he answered, pulling out the money and  
throwing it at the gray dog.

"Go away! You'll only get hurt!" yelled Rick at Krystal. Krystal gave  
him a hard slap. "Don't yell at me for helping you!" she answered  
angrily. Rick just looked at her, his face burning from the slap.

Rick just looked at the dogs and didn't say anything. He ran up to  
both of the dogs who were snickering at each and didn't see him run up  
to them.

He began repeatedly punching their stomachs. The brown dog ran towards  
Krystal, taking her by surprise. Rick did a roundhouse on the dog and  
dazed him.

Rick looked towards Krystal, who was being grabbed by the neck a foot  
off the ground. She punched and kicked the dog trying to make him let  
go. But it was useless.

Rick grabbed his blaster from the holster from the pile of items in  
the bench that he had placed and brought it to the dogs head.

"Let her go now." same plain voice he always used. The dog sighed and  
then stopped the grip on Krystal's neck. She dropped to the floor  
holding her throat.

"Now back away slowly" ordered Rick. The dog put both hands in the air  
and backed away. Rick looked to the other dog, but he wasn't there.

"What the hell?" he asked himself. Suddenly a locker door opened  
knocking the blaster from his hands.

Rick was then body slammed against the locker. When he got balance he  
was hit with what he believed to be a pipe, rendering him unconscious  
for several minutes.


	4. Unleashed

Rick awoke in the locker room chained to the wall with a heavy metal  
chain. He looked around, but he still had fuzzy sight.

The then regained his vision and saw both dogs in front of him,  
holding Krystal in their large arms; she was apparently knocked out too.

With ropes tying her hands. "Ahh, look who's finally awake!" said the  
brown dog. The dog then swung at Rick, hitting him in the chest.

"Let...her...go!" he struggled to say. "I don't think so I think  
we'll have some fun with her first!" he said laughing. He then touched  
Krystal in the chest.

"Let her go! You...son of a bitch!" yelled Rick. "What are you  
going to do about it?" said the gray dog.

He then punched Rick in the face, making him bleed even more. "You  
bitch! When I...ugh...get out of...here! You're going to pay!"  
yelled Rick in fury.

The brown dog then put his hand under Krystal's blue shirt. That  
made Rick loose control of all his anger.

He yelled as he gritted his teeth, his eyes turning more slanted with  
anger. His teeth shone white and his arms started to get larger.  
"What's he doing?!" asked the brown dog.

A white aura appeared around Rick as he continued to pull on the  
chains. The room started to become like a wind tunnel.

The fire alarms within the arena were set off then by a small fire  
that ignited when the wind inside the locker room overturned a log  
stove that heated the cold concrete room.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out!" said the gray bear  
pointing his blaster at Rick.

He then shot at him but the shots were absorbed by the silver aura.  
The chains then broke, releasing a crazed animal.

Ricks eyes were like cat eyes in appearance but larger and darker. His  
muscles were larger, his face with pure anger. He brought his hand up  
to his face and opened it. The gray dog stared in amazement.

A pipe rose behind him and levitated behind Rick. Rick walked towards  
him. The pipe suddenly came to life as it swung at bone breaking  
speeds through the air.

"You first" he said through his gritted teeth, pointing at the gray  
dog. The pipe swung at the dog and hit him many times in the ribs.

Then the pipe flew like a silver arrow at the dog, piercing his heart  
and sticking him into the concrete wall behind him.

The brown dog then threw Krystal at Rick. He caught her and laid her  
down gently in the floor. The dog then ran at him with a pipe and hit  
him in the face.

Rick just stood up and rose into the air. At that moment, in came the  
bulldog. "What the hell is going on here?!"

He then saw Rick and the dead dog. He tried to turn and run when the  
door closed on him. He stared in horror as Rick started to glow in  
white light that filled the room. "Please don't kill me!" cried the  
dog.

"He made me do it! Please don't!" he continued. The bulldog pounded on  
the door trying to get out, yelling for help. Rick held out his hand  
to Krystal, and then Krystal rose above with him.

She still unconscious. Rick then put his arms in front of him like a  
barrier. He then yelled as he released all the energy he had. The  
whole city lit up as the fight arena was destroyed.

People had evacuated the arena when Rick started the alarms by  
accident due to the alarms sensing the fire and smoke inside the  
locker room.. This alarm contacted the Cornerian Defense and Special  
Weapons and Reconnaissance Squad.

As the arena exploded, a white figure emerged from the rubble. Holding  
something in its arms. Rick then felt weak and fell to the ground.  
Landing on a piece of concrete grid wire, slashing him in the arm.

He yelled in pain as he pulled it out of his arm. He had to get  
Krystal way from the concrete mess and fires around the site. The rain  
started to fall heavily and rapidly.

So he had to put her on his shoulder and walked as fast as he could  
into an alley to avoid detection. As he walked away, ambulances and  
police flooded the streets. Looking for someone who resembled the fox  
in the CD Security systems.

He then noticed that he was being followed by the same orange fox  
that he had seen earlier. They ran at him with blasters up. "Put her  
down!" yelled the orange fox.

Rick was still blocks away from them so he put her down and ran away  
from the group, holding his bleeding arm as he ran through the cold  
rain.

He ran down many dark alleys and backstreets. Loosing sight of his  
pursuers. He was wet, cold, and every part of him in pain.

He then laid in a cardboard box that provided some protection from the  
cold rain. He then took the time to look back at what just had  
happened. "How did I do that?" he wondered, holding his arm.

He took his shirt off and ripped it in a long strip. He then tied it  
around his bleeding arm. He gritted his teeth as he tightened the  
shirt around the wound.

He breathed hard and every breath a painful one. He then closed his  
eyes. He saw the blue vixen in his mind. After what he had been  
through that night, he smiled and hoped he would see her again.

He then fell sleep for the worst night of his life. He slept in pain,  
without a shirt in the cold raining night.

Bleeding out of his arm, and in intense pain. Alone, as he always had  
been, cold, as he always too had been, happy, something he never had  
been in a long time.


	5. Help

Rick awoke to the sounds of the city. He was cold.

People crowded to see the message boards in the town central.

He found himself looking at the crowds of people staring at the giant  
lit screened that filled the sides of buildings in the city square. He  
then decided to move on.

He rub the back of his head then examined his arm. It was swollen and  
bleeding slowly. His entire left side from his body was covered in  
blood.

His fur looking crimson with silver blotches on it. He felt like he  
didn't have anything to go for, or hide from so he walked out of the  
alley and headed for the square.

As he arrived, many looked at him in disgust, others with sorrow. He  
didn't care. As he walked with the people, he noticed they kept their  
distance from him.

As if he was going to kill someone. He then looked at something that  
caught his eye, a wanted ad in one of the screens above the city square.

His face was on a wanted ad. "That's just wonderful" he thought. He  
saw a small collie pup come up to him and say hi. He never had someone  
share such kindness with him.

He looked at the pup and said "Hello? Where's your mommy? You  
shouldn't run off without her you know."

"Hey mister, here take this" he said reaching out with his small hand,  
giving him a small necklace in the shape of an eagle with the letters  
E.C.O. inscribed inside.

Rick took the small gift he offered. Rick examined the small necklace.  
It was pure, yellow, Lylatian gold. So rare that it was made from the  
dust of stars that went into super novae and exploded.

A regular size nova would generate only a pin head size amount of  
Lylatian gold. This being this large must have belonged to someone  
wealthy beyond reason.

When Rick looked up, the small pup had disappeared. He looked  
around, near him but didn't find a trace of him. Like he disappeared  
in to thin air.

Rick took the gift and put it on. It fit perfectly. As he continued  
to walk down the streets, he suddenly saw three cruisers from  
Cornerian Defense pull out of a sharp corner heading right for him.

He then just casualy started to walk the way he came. He instinctively  
started to run into the crowds as they suddenly yelled at him to stop.

Suddenly more blue and white cruisers then stopped infront of him, and  
out stepped 3 armed police units. They all had a silver uniform on  
that looked like a jump suit.

He started to run at full speed, his arm burning in pain. He ran  
into a mall, being followed by the police units. He ran into a  
clothing store and people started screaming and yelling in fear.

He ran out of the store instead. As he ran down a flight of stairs,  
the units started to fire tranquilizers at him. Red feather-tailed  
darts that whistled in the air.

Each one missing him by millimeters. He ran down another flight of  
stairs, he was shot in the leg. He felt the dart land with a small  
thud. He quickly pulled it out and continued to run. As he ran around  
a corner, he tackled by a unit in civilian clothes.

The hit was dead on. His arm throbbed in intense pain from the hit.  
The officer then flipped over Rick and applied the strap handcuffs.

He pulled Rick up but his legs wouldn't move. His eyes drooped; he  
never felt that tired before. He began to fall. As he fell he closed  
his eyes and was overwhelmed. By the trank and fell into a deep sleep.


	6. Blue Freedom

Rick awoke inside a small white cell, which he presumed to be a jail  
cell. He looked around the small white room with only a stainless  
steel toilet and a small window the guards saw throught.

He was dressed in white. A white undershirt with a white jacket that  
had belts instead of zippers. Black jeans that were pitch black and a  
hook button.

He then wondered how he got there and recalled the chase through the  
city's square. His arm had been bandaged with a gauze wrap that was  
tightly held by a pressure pin.

The room was brightly light by two bar lights from the ceiling. The  
small bed where he laid had been recently installed due to the  
measurements on the walls in pencil.

"Lucky me" he thought. His cell door suddenly opened. In stepped a  
police officer in his ironed uniform. Rick didn't fell threatened so  
he just looked at him and ignore him.

"It's about time you woke up Rick" he said in a pleased voice.  
"Whatever" he said glumly. The officer then took off his riot helmet  
to reveal a brown German Sheppard.

"You don't remember me!?" he said. "I've never met you" answered Rick.  
Still Rick had a feeling in the back of his mind that told him to look  
closer.

"You don't remember your best friend?" he said smiling. "Even after  
all these years, you still have such a short memory span don't you  
Rick?" he said laughing.

Rick had a flashback in his mind. He remembered him, Trent? Rick stood  
up and walked up to Trent and both hugged after so long.

"It's been 15 years" he said. "Sorry I've had so many problems"  
answered Rick. "Yeah I notice. You killed three people yesterday" he  
said.

Rick stood back. "That was an accident" he said. "Accident?"  
questioned Trent. "They attacked me first" said Rick.

"That doesn't matter now Rick. You are in major trouble. Unless  
someone can testify that it was in self defense" he said looking at  
the door.

"Well, I'm screwed. There's no one that can..." Rick then cut off  
when he remembered the blue vixen that helped him. "Unless...no  
there's no way I can find her" thought Rick.

"Trent, bring the captive Rick Daygger from his holding cell"  
ordered the radio Trent had in his shoulder. "Daygger?" asked Rick.  
"Yeah that's your last name. What? You forgot that also?" asked Trent.

Rick then covered up the question. "No, it's just that is sounds  
strange to me". "Whatever man, let's go" he said to Rick.

"Daygger! That's my last name! I have a last name!" thought Rick  
happily in his mind, as he smiled. "What are you smiling about?" asked  
Trent.

"Oh nothing in particular" responded Rick. Trent led Rick through  
the jail were he was taken to. He then walked from the office and was  
handed a blue paper.

"What's this" asked Rick holding up the paper to Trent. "It's your  
release papers" answered the clerk. "I'm being released?" asked Rick  
confused.

"Yeah, a young woman came here and paid the fines and vouched for  
you, you're free. Don't come back again." said the clerk once more  
smiling.

"Guess it's your lucky day Rick" said Trent. "She waiting for you in  
the front" she said pointing out to the glass doors. "What?" Rick  
asked. "Yeah she told me to tell you to meet her in the front" she  
responded getting back to work.

"Well Rick, like she said, don't come back in here, arrested I mean.  
It's been good to see you my friend. Come back and visit some time"  
said Rick leaving on a call he had received.

"Thanks Trent!" yelled Rick at Trent as he headed to the exit down the  
many halls of the jail complex.

"Here are your things" said the clerk handing him a large paper bag  
that held his necklace, his jacket from the locker room, and his army  
pants. "How did you find these" he asked.

"Our CSI has very good people working day and night" she answered.  
"Anyways thanks" said Rick and then headed for the glass doors.

Rick was greeted by warm sun and chirping birds. He pulled the  
necklace from the bag and quickly put it on. It appeared to shimmer in  
the warm sun. He saw many people on their daily commutes and activities.

He looked around for the blue vixen that had helped him in his  
encounter last night but was nowhere to be seen. He walked into the  
street but didn't see anything.

He decided to leave after minutes of looking for something he didn't  
see. He walked down the crowded streets where he had been walking the  
day he arrived in the planet days before, not afraid of what might  
come his way.

He walked down the market streets and smelled all of the many  
varieties of foods and other goods to eat. But he didn't have any  
money or any other way of paying for the food.

His stomach growled, all he could do was just stare. He saw an empty  
bench near a trash can. He walked over to the bench and sat under the  
large shadow the large tree cast over him.

His stomach began to growl even more. He hadn't eaten after three  
days. The first day he got to Martheus he used the last of his money  
paying the shuttle ride from Qritarious.

The second day he found a fight club. Third day, he was out of jail.  
Hungry. The other people walked by without even giving him a single  
glance at.

"They have no idea what I've been throught" thought Rick as he looked  
at people walk by.

"They don't know pain or the fact that they don't value their life"  
thought Rick. "it would be good to have a friend to talk to once in a  
while" he thought, resting his head on his hands.

"You can talk to me if you'd like" answered a voice in his head. "Oh  
that's just great. Now I'm going insane! I'm hearing voices in my  
head that answer my questions!" he thought sighing.

"You're not going crazy Rick." said the voice, which seemed familiar.  
"The hunger is finally getting to me" he thought.

"Turn around" said the voice. "That's even better! Now they're  
telling me what to do!" he thought laughing at the idea. "No really  
turn around" said the voice again.

"Whatever" he said to the voice. Ignoring its command. He looked up  
and continued to stare at the passing hover cars. He then felt someone  
tap on his shoulder. He stoodup and looked back to see Krystal  
standing behind him smiling.


	7. More Than A Stranger

"Hi" she then said. Rick just stared at her blankly. "Are you ok?" she  
then asked. "oh uhh I'm fine" said Rick standing up.

"I knew I'd find you here." she said smiling. "Was it you that go me  
out?" Rick asked. "Yes" she said happily.

"How did you do that?" he asked." I know people, and besides,  
everyone here respects a member of Starfox." she said walking around  
the bench.

She then sat down next to me. "Sit" she said. Rick sat and said "whose  
Starfox?". "First things first, what's your name?" she said. "Oh my  
names Rick, Rick Daygger" he answered.

He felt good to be finally someone with a last name. "My names  
Krystal" she said, extending her hand towards him. He shook her hand  
and for the first time looked at her in the eyes from such a close  
distance.

He looked and she looked at him. She then looked away, blushing. "I'm  
sorry, I shouldn't stare" said Rick looking away, he too was blushing.

He hoped she wouldn't notice it, but she did. "The answer to your  
question is, we are a team of pilots for hire. We roam the galaxy in  
search of missions to do. We usually take missions from Cornerian  
Defense." she said.

"Mercenaries?" he asked. "yeah, you could say that" she said smiling.

He looked at her uniform, a pair of shorts that were gray denim, with  
a short tan shirt and a dark gray cut jacket.

She also wore some boots that showed part of her calves. The edges  
yellow in color. She had a small device on her left wrist that  
resembled a yellow screen communicator; she had on a gold neck hugging  
necklace.

"So you hungry?" she asked after a few minutes of silence. "Yes, but  
I'm sorry to say I'm broke" he said giving a nervous laugh.

"No problem" she said smiling at him. "Follow me" she said extending  
her hand to Rick. He took her hand and followed her.

He felt for the second time her soft hand. He was too lost in his  
thoughts to realize where he was at.

They both stood up and walked to a food stand and ordered. They sat in  
a small picnic table near the food stand and waited.

"Why did you help me?" Rick finally asked her. He looked at her with  
a serious look. "Why did you help me the night of the fight?" she  
asked him with the same look.

"I'm sorry it's just that when people help me, they usually want  
something in return from me. What do you want?" he asked her.

"I would like to get to know you better" she said smiling. Rick  
could see she was blushing. "Why?" Rick asked. "Because..." she then  
got up and walked over the food stand and paid for the food.

"Here you go, enjoy" she said putting the food on the table.

Rick was hungry so he gladly took the food and began to eat. "My  
friends are going to be here soon" she said pushing some if the  
buttons on her wrist device.

"What!" said Rick chocking on his food. He coughed a few times then  
looked at Krystal. "You mean the guys who were running with guns at me  
yesterday!" he continued.

"Don't worry. I explained all to my friends, they know you saved me  
from the explosion" she said. "I also would like to thank you for  
getting me out of the hands of those creeps. I can still feel his  
hands on my chest" she said looking at him as she shuttered.

"How did you know that? You were knocked out during that time..."  
asked Rick confused.

"I'm a telepath, I could feel and hear everything around me even  
thought I was unconscious" she said. "So that voice...it was you?"  
he said remembering the night of his fight.

"Yes I tried to help you but I wasn't any help" she said sadly.

"That's not true, you were a great help. If it wasn't for you, I  
would've been killed during the fight" he said.

"Really?" she said smiling and blushing lightly. "Yeah!" he said.

"I'm sorry for hitting you yesterday" she then said looking down  
obviously embarrassed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you also, I shouldn't  
have. If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead" answered Rick.

After he was done eating, a orange fox in a green pants and a black  
shirt with a gray vest walked up to them.

"So you must be Rick. Am I right?" he said with a happy look. "Yes,  
who may I ask are you?" asked Rick. "I am Fox McCloud, leader of team  
Starfox"


	8. Friends Are Forever

Rick stood up and shook hands with Fox. "Sorry bout last night bud,  
we're a close team, so I got worried when I saw you take off with  
Krystal. I was expecting the worst of things, heh.." he said turning a  
bit red.

Rick smiled and sat back down. "You know, if it wasn't for you, I  
don't think I would be here" said Krystal with a small smile.

"No, it was the other way around" said Rick. "So what happened after  
your fight exactly Rick?" asked Fox.

"Well after the fight, I had some problems with the owner and things  
when sour, and a fight broke out" said Rick to Fox.

"How did the explosion start?" he asked intentavly. "I honestly don't  
know" said Rick, looking at Krystal, who knew what happened that night.

Krystal took of her small wrist device and layed it on the table. She  
then rubbed her wrist, and said it hurt, like if she had hit something  
hard.

The conversation carried on for a few minutes or so, when Fox's  
friends, were called to a mission from CD.

"Friendships last forever, but not for me" thought Rick sadly as the  
new friends he made left. Krystal stopped and turned around and looked  
at Rick. She just smiled then left after Fox.

Rick looked at the table and saw Krystal's comm device. When he looked  
up, they were already gone. He stood up and held the back of his neck.  
"Time to move on, once more" thought Rick.

He grabbed the small device and put it on. "I'll give it back, if I  
ever see them again" he thought.

He walked throught the city until he reached the city docks. The  
evening sun lit the rippleing waves. The air smelled like ocean water.

He was still satisfied with what he had eaten the previous night, so  
he sat on a bench facing the clear blue waters.

Night fell quickly as the sky darkened and turned into brilliant  
orange and red hues. The temperature of the city started to drop. The  
streets started to illuminate with neon signs or laser hollogram  
projection.

Rick watched the last of the sun fade away into darkness behind the  
horizon. "Well nothing lasts forever" he said standing up and  
stretching. He headed back towards the city. "I really need a place to  
crash" he thought.

He when into a hotel and looked at the prices. 50 Lylatians per night.  
But he had no money. He stepped out infront of the lobby, and then  
looked at the tall metal building.

He thought about just hopping over to the second floor and opening a  
room, but he, he couldn't bring it to himself to break into the hotel.

He looked back at the hotel, then began walkin to the park. The park  
faced the open night sky. The starts were visible here, not like in  
the city, were the stars couldn't exist.

The park was quiet, no wind, just the chirping of crickets and the  
sound of the water from the pond. He layed on the cold park bench, and  
got comfortable.

"The night sky is my only friend I've been able to keep" he thought  
falling into a deep sleep.

**Hey Guys, Tiburon here. Thank you for reading. I know its kinda boring. Bear with me. The fun stuff is about to begin!**


	9. Under The Strangest Of Circumstances

The single lamp that lit the park was a few feet from where Rick lay,  
tired and restless. The night had begun to turn into a cold and wet  
night. The clouds rumbled as the rain steadily fell on the parched  
grass and flowers.

"What is it with the rain that seems to follow me?" asked Rick  
standing straight up in the bench. He was already soaked in the rains  
tears so he didn't care and stayed there.

"It rained when I left Qritarious, also when..." he stopped, when he  
had a small flash of memory pass before his eyes. "Who was I?" he  
finally manages to ask himself, only to be answered by the thunder  
rumbling in the dark sky.

His fur was matted and wet, rain drops rolled off his fur as he looked  
at the small lamp that neared him. He tried to remember the woman in  
his memory, but couldn't. It was all blank. He couldn't see her face,  
only her dark outline.

"Who is she?" he wondered. The rain suddenly changed it's calm  
downpour into hail. A few hitting him in the head. "Oww! Damn!" he  
cried as he put his jacket on his head and began to walk back to the  
darkened city.

His shirt and pants were all drenched. The cold was beginning to  
bother him. Him being a fox, helped somewhat. As he neared the city,  
he saw it still had life.

Although the rain still fell lightly and the heavy hail seized to  
small pebbles.

People busy and moving around. Some closing for the night, others  
heading home and to their family and children. Something Rick wished  
he had.

He passed and old woman who gave him a small smile and said hello.  
Rick returned the kindness and continued his walk. As he walked past  
an alley, he saw a group of street punks follow a young woman.

The followed the woman into a dark alley as the rain from the  
buildings poured over the edges onto the street below.

The woman hadn't seen them as she walked minding her own thoughts.  
Rick walked through the alley, and began to walk behind the group.  
Suddenly the group began to run at the woman, who now had seen them  
and began to run terrified.

After a few minutes of running, the group then cornered the woman, who  
he could see was a young orange vixen.

"Hey lady, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" said a  
small punk in the group. The vixen then said "Leave me alone!". Rick  
crouched behind a trash can and waited for the chance to act.

The rain now steadied to a gentle shower.

"ooh she's a feisty one!" someone said. Rick silently watched, and  
waited. The hail had then stopped. "Lets show this pretty thing a good  
time" said the small man once more.

Two guys grabbed her hands and began to undress the vixen. The woman  
struggled to try and free herself, but was over powered by the two men.

"Let me go you son of a bitch!" she yelled desperately. "Is that any  
way of talking to your secret lover now?" said the man smiling.

Rick looked around where he hid and found a rusted-broken pipe 7ft  
long and grabbed it. It was unusually light for it's size.

The men than pulled off the squirming vixen's exposed bra, revealing  
her chest. The rain ran off her exposed shirtless body. Then the small  
man moved for her exposed breasts.

"Let the fun begin" he said getting closer to the now drenched in rain  
water vixen.

"Get away from her!" yelled Rick at the group standing from his hiding  
stop. All the men stopped and looked at Rick. A tall bulky bull walked  
up to Rick from the crowd.

The vixen tryed to cover her exposed chest, but couldn't. Her eyes  
were red from crying, which for some strange reason angered Rick.

"Get lost! This isn't of your concern!" yelled the bull at Rick. Rick  
moved his head like if not to understand the command.

Rick then suddenly swung the pipe at the bulls head, killing him  
instantly. "Get away from her. Last time I say it" said Rick furious.

"Show him not to interfere with us" said the short man with an angry  
look as he eyed his fallen comrade.

All of the men suddenly began yelling as they ran to him. The woman  
stood up and saw the men surround Rick.

She pulled her wet blonde hair out of her face, she looked at Rick and  
then ran away covering her chest with her hands.

Rick then began to mow down the assailants. Each hit landing with  
enough force to break bone. The fight lasted only for a few minutes.  
The rain dancing off his jacket as each hit landed.

Only the small man remained. He crawled up to Rick on his knees, who  
was breathing heavily. "Please don't hurt me!" said the man.

Rick stared at the man, trying to hold his anger and not kill the man.  
He was about to let him go, when a "dead guy" rose up and pulled a gun  
behind Rick.

"Look out!" yelled a voice in the darkness. Rick swung blindly at his  
opponent. But not fast enough, he hit the man too late. The bullet  
entered his arm with a small thud. Rick then swung again and hit the  
man in the head before he could fire again.

Rick then dropped the pipe and fell to his knees from the intense pain  
of the metal ball. The shot went pierced his arm and entered his side.

He could feel the hot metal ball on his left-side ribs. The short man  
then walked up against Rick, he to now had a gun. Rick held his side  
to try to stop the profuse bleeding.

"Time to die" said the man. He then kicked Rick on the side, which  
made him enter intense pain. Rick held his arm as he tried to stand  
up, only to be kicked in the face.

The man then laughed as Rick gasped for air. "Goodbye!" he said  
finally. As he pushed the trigger, Rick looked at the evil look of the  
man.

A shot when off. The man fell on one knee and looked at Rick. His  
twisted smile faded as he then fell forward on the puddles of dirty  
rainwater.

Rick looked up from the dead body. He found himself looking at the  
young vixen. She was holding a gun, that was laying on the ground from  
the first attack.

She knelt down and helped Rick to his feet. He began to fell light-  
headed and dizzy. "Rick come with me" she then said softly.

"H...how..." he tried to say. "Don't talk, save your strength, and  
come with me." she told him.

Rick's vision began to become blurred. He began to loose his sense of  
direction and got lost in the mazes of alley ways. He saw that the  
vixen was still exposed from her chest.

Rick then stopped. "We're almost there, just a bit farther" she said  
to him. "Here" he said taking off his jacket and giving it to her.

"Ta...ke it" he said. She put it on and zipped it up, covering up her  
exposed chest, then helped Rick by putting his arm around her again.  
Rick gave a few more steps before collapsing and blacking out.

**Hey guys! I do apologize for the large amount of typos. It seems I lost my profred files somehwere on my laptop. I shall fix this soon!**


	10. Returning Home

Rick woke to find himself wrapped in a blanket with new clothes on. He  
looked around and focused his vision. "Where the hell am I?" he  
wondered.

His fur was clean, his arm was wrapped in gauze with a pressure pin on  
it. He stood up on the bed where he layed. His side burned as if he  
had done 100 non-pause sit ups.

He pulled the blanket off his chest and examined the strange blue  
plastic on his chest. "What the hell?" he said. He pulled off the  
blanket entirely and then stood up slowly. He looked at the windows  
and saw the soft white light enter.

"God...how long have I been out?..." he walked towards the large  
round window. The room was large and decorated with pictures.

There was a picture on a frame that caught his attention. He walked  
over to the picture and examined it. He stared in amazement as the  
picture revealed the vixen he had helped hugging him.

The woman in the picture hugged Rick as they sat on a bench facing the  
citys dock. He saw himself in the picture, smiling and giving the  
vixen a kiss on her cheek. She smiling and hugging him.

"Is that me?" he asked himself. "Who was I?" he asked himself. He  
looked around and looked at the entire room.

"This is...my room. When I knew her...but when did I know her? Why  
am I here?" he thought confused.

He beggan to have a head ache. "Why can't I remember anything?!" he  
yelled. The door to the room then opened, in came a strange shaggy  
brown dog in a lab uniform.

"Rick sit, you can't be moving" he said. "where am I?!" he asked  
backing away from the old dog.

"your home." he answered. "I've never been here..." he said to the man  
as he backed into a corner.

"how do you know me?!" asked Rick. "I'm a friend of Cassandra, she  
called me here to help you after your injuries" he answered.

"that name it sounds familiar..."he thought.

"who is Cassandra?" he asked confused. "she's the woman you fell in  
love with" he said smiling. "no, I've never met her.." answered Rick.

"don't believe me? Here take a look" he said tossing a small envelope  
to him.

Rick caught it and eyed the man suspiciously "what's this...?" he  
asked. "read it." he answered.

Rick opened the envelope and read the letter:

I love you my small piece of heaven. I will never leave you alone,  
never being alone is impossible to happen to us. I cannot explain my  
love to you throught words but with my heart. It pains me to see you  
far away from me. You and I will always be together. If we ever part,  
you and I will never loose our love for each other. Goodnight my love  
Cassandra.  
Yours truly-Rick Daygger

As Rick finished, he noticed he had broken into tears. He couldn't  
understand why. His heart felt torn 2 ways. To follow his heart or the  
loneliness that governed his mind and that he had lived with for years.

"take your time Rick. You've been gone for 3 years. There's much to  
remember." he said turning around to leave.

"this isn't my home." said Rick. "what?" asked the man confused. "this  
isn't my home, I've never had one" he answered him coldly.

"I need to leave." Rick said wipeing the tears from his eyes. "you  
can't, you'll open the wounds we barely closed!" he said concerned.

Rick walked towards the door weakly then turned around and headed  
back. "please lay down, wait till you can move safely" he said again.

Rick ingnored the man and walked towards a small table near the bed  
that had a new pair of boots. He slowly but steadily walked to the  
table and grabbed them.

The man began to raise his voice, "please sit down!." Rick ignored  
him. Within a matter of minutes he was ready. The man stood blocking  
the doorway. "move or you will regret it." said Rick. The man  
nervously moved.

Rick still had thoughts flood his head. "why?! Why?! Why am I  
here?! Who am I? Where did I come from? Who was I?!"

He walked down a small hallway, that split into two directions. He  
remembered being there, so he knew to go left. But how did he remember?

He found his way out to the street after a few minutes. As he headed  
towards the doors, he saw the vixen from the previous night run  
towards him from a seperate hall. Her long blonde hair flying behind  
her.

"Rick! Please don't leave me again! You promised me you would never  
leave!" she yelled.

"Again?" he thought confused. She then caught up to him and put her  
arms around Rick. His arms at his sides. She then began to cry, "you  
promised you would never leave me." she said through tears.

He just stood there, feeling confused and a mixture of sadness and  
other emotions. "I'm sorry, but I...don't know you." he finally said.  
Then the girl looked at him, tears in her eyes. "how can you have  
forgotten me? After all that you and I meant for each other?" she said  
crying even more.

"please don't cry, I didn't want to hurt you, I'm so sorry" he said.  
"why can you remember me?" she cried. He sighed then took a deep  
breath, "I only know my last name, all I used to be or ever was is  
forgotten, I don't remember anything." he said to her.

"they did this to you didn't they?" she then said. "huh?" he  
responded. "it doesn't matter Rick, I love you, you're my life, I  
thought I'd lost you forever" she said looking at him in the eyes.

She then pulled Rick to her and gave him a kiss on his lips. Rick was  
surprised and wide-eyed and yet it felt righ, it lasted for a few  
seconds, the unexpected kiss was then broken by her.

"do you remember that? That's how I gave you our first kiss." she said  
holding him even tighter.

Rick then felt his world fall apart around him. All he found of his  
life in one day, overwhelmed his mind and caused him to slowly blanked  
out. "Rick!" said Cassandra trying to catch Rick with all her strengh.

She was slightly smaller than Rick and wasn't able to hold him, so  
Rick collapsed on her. She wouldn't care less. The love of her life  
returned whether he knew it or not, she embraced him and held him as  
if was the her last day of her life.

Ricks head rested on her chest while her arms hugged him as best as  
she could.


	11. Project ZAYR

Cassandra and the brown shaggy dog stood over Rick as he lay asleep on  
the bed.

"Why can he remember anything?" asked Cassandra. "well, it could be  
because of the surgery they did on him years ago  
. But I can't assure you of that." he answered scratching the back of  
his fuzzy head.

"can the memory loss be reversed?" she asked. "he could have only  
temporary memory loss, but it's hard to say." he answered. "do you  
think bringing him here was a good idea?" she asked.

"Well if he hasn't been active for long, REEA won't be able to track  
him. REEA places a tracker on all active units and I'm sure Rick here  
was no exeption." he said looking at Rick.

"Why was Rick placed under the different program than the rest of the  
REEA units?" Cassandra said, stroking Rick's dark hair.

"Rick was in a worst state of shellshock than the rest. He had to be  
"removed" from normal practices. And also, he was a perfect test  
subject for the Z.A.Y.R. Project." he said looking at the floor.

"No! Who placed him in that?! That's the same thing that killed his  
father and mother!" she suddenly said furious.

"it pains me to say, but his father" he said looking at her. "but he's  
dead..." she said confused.

"do you remember the explosion in the research labs a few years back?"  
he asked.

"yes, that's what killed his parents" answered Cassandra.

"it wasn't an explosion in the military base that killed half the  
Z.A.Y.R. Project staff, it was Rick. The explosion was a mere cover up  
for the "accident" that Jason created."

Cassandra looked at the old man in confusion as he explained.

"Jason wanted the best weapon against any enemy, the common soldier.  
Jason's idea was rejected from the board. So he and others worked on a  
healing chamber, which was bullshit to cover up the Z.A.Y.R. Project."  
he said looking ashamed.

"Jason's ambition was so great, that he used his own flesh and blood  
to test it. Rick had no idea he would be the test subject.

Since Rick wasn't mentally stable, Jason thought it could fix up his  
son and be able to successfully use Z.A.Y.R. 2 birds with one stone, so  
to speak.

Rick was drugged and the Z.A.Y.R. Project was initialized.

The Z.A.Y.R. is an enhancement to the body that could increase the  
victory rate of the military tenfold. But the CD knew it was a bad  
idea, so it was banned through the board.

That's where Jason took it into his hands." he said. Cassandra  
listened to every word and was surprised at the fact that Ricks  
father, Jason could do such a thing to his own son.

"I am the one who put Rick in the Z.A.Y.R. Chamber." he said turning  
away from Cassandra. "It was you?! How could you! Rick trusted you!"  
she then said yelling at him.

"I know! I've felt guilty for what Rick has been through." he said  
pulling a chair to sit. Cassandra began fighting the urges to cry.

"please let me tell you the rest of Rick's past, after the Z.A.Y.R.  
was started, he reacted badly to it, he went on a rampage. Killing  
half of the 46 staff members. He was a military soldier and his  
training aided him on his rampage. He was tranquilized and then  
relocated to Qratarious, where he escaped, we failed to retrieve him.  
How he managed to find you is beyond me. You were told he vanished  
after he was taken to the Z.A.Y.R. Labs.

Your life with Rick was erased to prevent Rick from being traced back  
to Jason and the Z.A.Y.R. Project. It's like he never existed. He  
might not ever recover his memory. But it seems he's back to how he  
was before he was in shellshock. Maybe you and Rick could try to  
regain what both of you have lost, your love. Now I've been here too  
long, I must leave, no one must know I was here. Understand?" he them  
said standing up and leaving with a dark raincoat.

"remember, try to re-do your life with him, he's been through a lot,  
he needs someone. You are that someone." he then opened the door and  
stepped into the hall then left.

"goodbye. I'll see ya again sometime." Cassandra said resting her head  
on Rick's shoulder. "oh Rick, you must remember, you must" she then  
said crying softly.


End file.
